The present invention relates to a ring mount for anti-friction bearings in general, and more particularly to a sheet-metal ring mount for anti-friction bearings, particularly for mounting easily turnable structures on supports which are not, or not entirely, resistant to twisting, distortion and the like.
This type of ring mount is, for example, currently being used for mounting light-weight turnable weapons (e.g. machine guns) on light-weight vehicles (e.g. jeeps) and in order to save weight it is known to make the inner and outer rings of these mounts of aluminum. It has also been proposed to use sheet-metal mounts for an axial roller system, namely in German Published Application No. 2,540,793, and for a ball bearing system according to German Gebrauchsmuster No. 1,945,404.
According to another proposal it has also been suggested to make relatively large-size sheet metal ring mounts for use with vehicles of all types. In this proposal a one-row axial ball bearing system is employed and it has also been suggested that rollers might be used instead of the bearing balls. As in the German Allowed Application No. 2,540,793, this proposal is directed to an axial single-row system of anti-friction bearing bodies.
The problem with these prior-art proposals is that they are not usable in the context with which the present invention is concerned. Ball bearings, when used in conjunction with supports which are not completely resistant to twisting and other types of deformation and when used in conjunction with races formed by mounts which themselves are not completely resistant to twisting or other deformation, tend to develop anti-rotation resistance peaks in an irregular (and hence unpredictable) pattern which results from tumbling of the axis of rotation of the bearing balls. Axial roller bearings, on the other hand, are not suitable for transmitting radial and lifting forces. For this reason, it is known to use--in connection with supports which are not free of twisting or other deformation--a so-called cross-roller system as disclosed for example in German Gebrauchmuster No. 1,960,135, but there in the context of massive non-deformable bearing rings.